[drupal-docs] Developing vs Empowering : Or how the wording inside Drupal/CS affects a sites design

[Liza Sabater]

Hey'all,

This first started out as a simple question about how to change the 
information that appears on the "Create Content" page; but it spiraled 
into something else. Just speechifying here and absolutely NOT creating 
content. So here it goes:

First off, let's talk about "Create Content". As Doc Searles has 
pointed out so well, in his "What blogs are vs. What blogs are not"

http://www.searls.com/doc/2005lesblogs/index.html

blogs --and by extension community sites-- are not content, they are 
free speech. Not just free democratic speech but speech that is free of 
the barriers to entry to mass media. Blogs are fast becoming the mass 
media of our day and as "techno-fear" decreases and ease of use rises, 
we will have millions of not just readers but contributors --through 
comments, diaries, forums-- growing this new mass media and changing 
the landscape of public/private discourse,

To invite anyone reading a blog entry to contribute their opinion on an 
issue is not the same as asking for content contributions. Opinions and 
content are two mutualy exclusive things. Wouldn't you feel weird if 
you were at a cocktail party and someone asked you to submit an article 
about briefs vs. boxers instead of saying right then and there what you 
thought?

I want people coming to my sites to feel empowered to contribute their 
insights and opinions on an issue. To be able to "speechify" 
effortlessly and with no barriers to entry.

I know Kieran has been working double overtime on correcting a lot of 
the documentation. That man needs a drink and as blog as my witness, 
I'm getting him one when I get my arse to California in July. But, 
something I feel is missing is the non-techie mission, elan, 
inspiration that propels people to work hard to make CivicSpace work.

In other words, what do we stand for should be inspiring every bit of 
coding and documentation. If this is what CivicSpace stands for :

______

CivicSpace is a free open-source software platform for grassroots 
organizing and civic activity. It allows individuals and organizations 
to build online communities that communicate effectively, act 
collectively, and coordinate coherently with a network of other related 
organizations and communities.
______

This is what needs to push every single bit of info on the site. 
Actually, I'd like to cut that wordiness to this : empowering 
grassroots and civic activity with powerful online community spaces


So for the sake of netroots sanity, the following has to go because it 
is not flexible :
______

Choose the appropriate item from the list:

* book page
A book is a collaborative writing effort: users can collaborate writing 
the pages of the book, positioning the pages in the right order, and 
reviewing or modifying pages previously written. So when you have some 
information to share or when you read a page of the book and you didn't 
like it, or if you think a certain page could have been written better, 
you can do something about it.

* forum topic
A forum is a threaded discussion, enabling users to communicate about a 
particular topic.

* image
An image you can insert into nodes, or see in image galleries.

* issue
Add a new issue (bug report, feature request, etc) to an existing 
project.

* personal blog entry
A blog is a regularly updated journal made up of individual entries, 
often called posts, that are time stamped and typically arranged by the 
day, with the newest on top (a diary is the reverse). They tend to be 
quite personal, often containing links to things you've seen, or to 
editorials that you find interesting. Some blogs also contain original 
material written solely for the blog. Since a Blog is personal, you and 
only you have full control over what you publish. The most interesting 
blog entries or those blog entries that fit the site's topic well might 
get promoted to the front page by the community or by users with the 
access do this.

* project specification
Description of a CivicSpace project.
_____________


This works great for people in the know of Drupal --ie, we geeks and 
freaks of all kinds. For your regular Bob and Bobette --no matter how 
techy skilled they might be-- if they have never used this system, 
there's a learning curve to use. I have a particular problem with the 
fact that BLOGS, is not at the top. If blogs are each users 
co-ownership of a community space, they ought to be able to find it in 
a snap. Fast. Effortlessly. I also have a problem with the fact I 
cannot easily change this  text. Nobody I know, NO ONE, talks about 
personal blog entries. They BLOG IT! They RANT IT! They whatever it.

I am first and foremost a communicatrix. So publishing is not just 
about using Movable Type vs. CivicSpace. It's about setting up a tone 
through the design, the flow of content and the language used 
throughout the site's interface. Being able to change "News Feeds" to 
"Sheroesphere", on a nav bar (which I can), is part of my job. And is 
in the language, in the vocabulary I use all throughout the site that 
allows me to set a tone, a message, a vision. So I don''t setup and 
design a blog --a turn a blog into personal loudspeaker. I don't just 
use community platform as social software (whatever that is). My goal 
is to develop it into a commons, a real life yet digital town square 
--or a community loudspeaker. I should be able to change this. Easily. 
Effortlessly. Fast.

So with this entry I would like to do two things :
(1) Could the real coders please tell us mere mortals where to change 
the links on the modules. I want to do away with "Book page", "Forum 
topic", etc. I want to know if changing those would affect anything.

(2) Those explanations have to go. Sorry, they're just not doing it for 
me. Node? NODE? WFT is a node to someone outside of the Drupalsphere? 
Seriously! Let's use this forum for alternative blurbs.

Enough speechifying. Let's get cracking :)

Best,
Liza Sabater
Blog Publisher
www.culturekitchen.com
www.blogsheroes.com
www.brownbloggers.com
www.dailygotham.com

AIM - cultkitdiva
SKYPE - lizasabater

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